I've had so many more good days than bad. And, quite honestly, I've left school on those bad days thinking, "I can't wait to come back tomorrow and try again." So I suppose my attitude has made this whole new teacher experience much better than it could be. Though, I can see why some people leave the profession and never look back. Teaching is hard work.
Here is what I am talking about:
Who knew that there would be so many little things to manage... SO many silly problems to solve? Jeez Louise. If there is one thing that I could tell pre-service teachers about their first year (especially their first few weeks) of teaching it would be, "Have a management plan for everything so that you can spend less time problem solving and more time planning quality stuff!"
You've seen my wonderfully donated comfy space (if not, make your way on down to my previous post). It is so nice to have a classroom living room. The kids love it. They all want to sit in it all of the time. Here is a problem I never thought would be a problem: They all want to sit in it ALL of the time. And they are not afraid to ask 9 times a day.
So, I didn't have a plan for the same 10,000 questions that bombarded me every time students had time to independently read: "Can I sit on the couch?" Very quickly I became very frustrated that my kids didn't just autonomously take turns (HA!). After the third week I very nearly threw my couches out of the third story window. Instead of doing that which is so absurd and dangerous, I bought a cookie sheet at the Goodwill and some magnets at Joann Fabrics and got to work solving my problem the way all Pinteresting teachers do: I made something.
There is a large laminated photo of my couches tacked onto the sheet, as well as magnetic name cards-- one for each student. This sits in my living room for everyone to see at all times. I stow the name cards on the back in either a "This Time," or "Next Time" bag. I change the names every 2-3 days and place the names of students who have had a turn in the "Next Time" bag. After only three weeks we have gone through one whole cycle-- everyone has now had an opportunity to sit in the living room. All of the names are now in the "This Time" bag, ready for more couch time.
Now, whenever students come to ask if they can sit on the couches (very rarely these days!) I just ask, "is it your turn?" No more racking my brain trying to recall who sat on the couch during read aloud and morning reading on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
Problem solved.
It's a beautiful thing.
How have you solved problems you never thought you would have?
